I recommend the Guerber history series (edited and expanded by Christine Miller) to be a child’s first introduction to history in the elementary grades. What about those children in their teens, who did not have the advantage of reading this thorough biblically-based history in their elementary years? What can I recommend for those parents who want their teens to use The Story of the Ancient World as a history spine?
THE STORY OF THE ANCIENT WORLD by Christine Miller
Teens can read multiple chapters per day in one sitting, and finish the book in a few months. Reading this book first will provide essential background information to make the history of the Old Testament more clear.
THE OLD TESTAMENT, in particular, the Torah (Genesis through Deuteronomy), the History books (Joshua through 2 Chronicles), and the Prophets (Isaiah through Malachi).
This study should not be discounted just because children have read their Bibles before, if they have. Reading this amount of Scripture in the space of a few months will help teens make connections and more firmly grasp the flow of ancient history. It is also necessary even though students may have just completed The Story of the Ancient World. The Scripture provides more detail helpful for teens through adults, which The Story of the Ancient World must necessarily omit due to the age and maturity of its primary audience.
AFTER THE FLOOD: The Early Post-Flood History of Europe by Bill Cooper
The link is for the book freely available on the Internet, but for those parents who can afford the updated Kindle book, please consider doing so to support Dr. Cooper in producing more quality scholarship of this nature. I suggest reading and note-taking for this book as recommended in On the Use of Real Books in the Secondary Curriculum.
AFTER THE FLOOD TABLE OF NATIONS
This appendix is also included in the new After the Flood Kindle edition.
SENIOR HIGH ANCIENT HISTORY RESEARCH PROJECT
This project can be worked on throughout the year, and turned in for 50% of class credit at the end of the year.
1) Arrange the books, even separately the chapters, where appropriate, of the Old Testament in their historical order. Chapters of the Prophets will intersect with chapters of the History Books, and not every book in the Old Testament is arranged in historical order, so some research will be necessary. I highly recommend The Chronology of the Old Testament by Dr. Floyd Nolen Jones (with helpful chronology charts) for expert help with chronology thorns. Additionally, the Biblical Chronology Newsletter is another excellent resource.
2) Write a 6-10 page summary of the history (in historical order) recorded in the Torah, History Books, and Prophets.
Related: The Story of the Ancient World Teaching Helps (Nothing New Press)
One thought on “SECONDARY HISTORY WITH THE STORY OF THE ANCIENT WORLD”
Hi. Thank you so much for all your hard work on these fantastic books. I was wondering if anyone has compiled a list of bible passages that correspond directly with the biblical chapters in “Ancient World?”